Rebirth: I have Monopoly System

While Wu Yun and Qi Fei were having a romantic lunch at the Oriental Pearl’s revolving restaurant in Modu.

In an office building in the Capital City, Hu Weixiao, who had just returned from Gothenburg, Sweden, sat in her swiveling executive chair. She gazed absently at the business license for Mobike Technology Co., Ltd. The registered capital of 10 million yuan and the two small lines of text naming her as the corporate legal representative were particularly striking.

Earlier this year in Hupao, Hangzhou, she had wanted to rent a public bicycle for convenience while on assignment as an automotive journalist. Unfortunately, the local kiosk for issuing rental cards was closed, and her plan to go for a ride fizzled out.

She ended up running into a similar problem in Gothenburg, Sweden, which sparked some new ideas about the public bike industry.

Just as this idea began to form, she saw the news about Little Red Car’s launch. Shared bikes were flooding the city. Watching online videos of people riding the red bikes through streets and alleys, Hu Weixiao felt like a lightbulb had gone off. She realized her own idea was the prototype for a bike-sharing service.

Her years of experience in journalism had taught Hu Weixiao the importance of timely information. So, she pulled a team together from her circle of friends in the automotive industry and established the Mobike project.

At the same time, she took a Mobike project proposal—which copied the concept of Little Red Car—to a certain capitalist magnate. After paying a certain price and agreeing to some terms, she secured the magnate’s full support.

Unlike Little Red Car’s development strategy, Mobike planned to build its own bicycle factory to manufacture and maintain Mobike’s fleet.

After consulting with the magnate, Hu Weixiao’s team decided to outsource the initial batch of bikes. Once their factory was built or acquired, they would switch to full-scale in-house production.

Although Hu Weixiao registered the company in the Capital City, her initial strategic focus was on Modu.

There was no other reason than the fact that ofo’s Little Yellow Car was also rolling out shared bikes in the Capital City. A war between red and yellow was about to erupt.

According to market research, Little Red Car currently had only ten thousand shared bikes in Modu. (The survey was from last month; Little Red Car was currently gathering its strength.)

The Modu market was still essentially a blank slate. Even if Little Red Car deployed a huge number of bikes, they couldn’t possibly cover the entire city.

According to calculations by Hu Weixiao and her team, Modu’s population of over 24 million could support at least 2 million bikes, not to mention the city’s transient population.

So, in Hu Weixiao’s eyes, the future was bright.

Just then, the office door was pushed open.

Hu Weixiao frowned and swiveled her chair toward the door. Her expression changed in a flash as a broad smile spread across her face. She stood up and said, "President Wang, what brings you here?"

The man, President Wang, turned to close the office door behind him and sauntered unhurriedly toward the desk.

His unimposing frame somehow exuded an undeniable, oppressive authority.

Wang Wei plopped down into the executive chair Hu Weixiao had just vacated. He crossed his arms, looked up, and asked coolly, "How are the preparations coming along?"

Like an employee giving a report, Hu Weixiao stood stiffly to the side. "President Wang, everything is proceeding according to plan. The app development team is working overtime."

"We’ve already negotiated the initial bike production with Foxconn at 500 yuan per unit."

"The preliminary plan is to launch on National Day and gradually deploy 200,000 bikes in Modu throughout October. We’ve basically used all the capital you provided for bike production; it’s only enough for the down payment on the first batch."

After finishing her report while staring at some object in front of her, Hu Weixiao stole a glance at Wang Wei. She found him listening with his arms crossed and eyes closed. For a moment, the office fell silent.

Just as Hu Weixiao was beginning to feel uneasy on her feet, Wang Wei’s voice broke the silence.

"Stick to the plan! A friend of mine revealed that Little Red Car is using a portion of the massive amount of deposit money they’re collecting to pay the balance on their bikes. We can follow their model! Use half the deposits to expand production!"

’Wang Wei figured that by following Little Red Car’s development model—a little initial investment, then using deposits to scale up—the user base would grow, and the company’s valuation would soar. Then, whether they sought more financing or something else, they would be rolling in it.’

’As an investor, the first thing he looked at was the return on investment. He was very optimistic about projects like bike-sharing, so when the Mobike plan landed on his desk, he, Wang Wei, invested without a second thought!’

Combined with the sacrifices Hu Weixiao had made for the company’s sake... At this thought, Wang Wei looked up and sized up Hu Weixiao, who was standing to the side. The white short-sleeved blouse she wore was form-fitting, and the gray professional miniskirt she had on below only accentuated her slender figure.

Wang Wei stroked the sparse whiskers on his chin. ’Forget being a new groom every night; he, Wang Wei, much preferred playing the part of Cao Aman!’

’What was that saying again? "A young man doesn’t appreciate a mature woman’s charms, mistakenly thinking young girls are the real prize." And just look at how many fall for that trap!’

"Why are you standing so far away? Come here!"

Wu Yun had just taken a piece of grilled oyster from Qi Fei with his mouth. Savoring the mixture of millet-chili, garlic, and seafood, he chewed a few times and swallowed.

"Eat some more oysters, you need to keep your strength up!" Qi Fei said with a laugh, covering her mouth. Her comment seemed to boost the confidence of the many men at nearby tables who had been watching them.

Wu Yun’s expression turned serious. "Qi Fei, you’re playing with fire! Who was it last night that kept crying she couldn’t take it anymore? Believe it or not, tonight I’ll make it so you can’t get out of bed!"

Qi Fei instantly got into character, putting on a pitiful, lovable act. The sight made the men at the next table wish they could shove Wu Yun aside and take his place.

"My dear husband! Could your humble servant perhaps find a few sisters to join us?!"

The corners of Wu Yun’s mouth twitched, but he suppressed his smile and said with a straight face, "What kind of person do you take me for? How could I possibly accept any woman other than you!"

’But I will accept other lost little girls! Amen!’ Wu Yun added in his head.

"Hmph! You really don’t want to?!" Qi Fei’s pitiful act vanished, replaced by a look of playful arrogance.

Just then, Wu Yun’s phone started vibrating.

He picked it up and saw it was an unknown number from a local Rongcheng area code.

"Hello? Who’s this?" Wu Yun answered.

"Is this Wu Yun? This is Zhao Yuqing!" Sitting next to Wu Yun, Qi Fei could clearly hear the female voice coming from his phone.

"Oh! Class President! What’s up?" Wu Yun said, suddenly realizing who it was. The voice had sounded familiar.

"First of all, congratulations, Wu Yun. You’re famous among the first-years now. The video of you street dancing the other night has already spread through all the first-year class group chats."

Qi Fei stared at Wu Yun in surprise. ’She never knew he could street dance!’

"It’s a good thing you took time off. For the past few days, our classroom’s doorway has been nearly beaten down by all the thirsty girls! Otherwise, who knows how many pieces you’d have been torn into."

Wu Yun laughed it off. "Don’t be so dramatic, Class President! You’re scaring me!"